138
those of uranium mining. As it can be seen, these activities can enhance uranium
concentration up to several orders of magnitude above the usual range for soil.
Some of these products, such as different kinds of fertilizers, are specifically
designed to be used in agriculture procedures in order to improve yield. Phosphatebased fertilizers (NPK, TSP, SSP, MAP, DAP) present a higher uranium concentration than the ones based on nitrogen, such as urea (Guillén et al. 2014). However,
uranium concentration in plants grown using NPK fertilizer was reported to be similar to those grown without its use (IAEA 2003). This may reflect that the fertilizer
doses used in soil were too low to be a radiological hazard. Other NORM byproducts, such as phosphogypsum or fly ash from coal-fired power plants, can be
also used as soil amendments (Papastefanou et al. 2006; Basu et al. 2009; Enamorado
et al. 2014). Plants can also grow on mine tailings either from uranium or other
metal mines. Uranium and other naturally occurring radionuclide concentrations in
plant are usually enhanced compared to control sites outside the affected areas, and
these differences can be applied for assessing the potential radiological hazard
(Wichterey and Sawallisch 2002; Carvalho et al. 2009; Pourcelot et al. 2011).
2 Transfer Factors
The transfer processes from soil to plant can be modelled in different ways, in order
to be properly quantified. The most usual approximation is the so-called transfer
factors or concentration ratios, which are defined as the ratio between the radionuclide concentration in plant and in soil (Eq. 1):
Table 1 Range of uranium concentration reported in several NORM industries
Fertilizer industry
Product
U range (Bq kg
−1 )
References
Phosphate rocks
10–13,745
Guillén et al. (2014)
Phosphogypsum
<2–650
Guillén et al. (2014)
Fertilizer
62–7024
Guillén et al. (2014)
Scale
0.62–3510
IAEA (2003)
Mining industry
Product
U range (Bq kg
−1 )
References
Coal
8.5–600
IAEA (2003); Xhixha et al. (2013)
Gold mine tailings
87.2–2668.9
Kamunda et al. (2016)
Tin mine tailing
1710–16,600
Ibeanu (2003); Ademola (2008)
Uranium mining
Product
U range
References
Uranium mine tailing
400–41598 Bq kg
−1
Černe et al. (2010);
Carvalho et al. (2006, 2007)
Drainage water
0.244–35.7 Bq L
−1
Carvalho et al. (2011)
J. Guillén and F. M. Gómez-Polo
those of uranium mining. As it can be seen, these activities can enhance uranium
concentration up to several orders of magnitude above the usual range for soil.
Some of these products, such as different kinds of fertilizers, are specifically
designed to be used in agriculture procedures in order to improve yield. Phosphatebased fertilizers (NPK, TSP, SSP, MAP, DAP) present a higher uranium concentration than the ones based on nitrogen, such as urea (Guillén et al. 2014). However,
uranium concentration in plants grown using NPK fertilizer was reported to be similar to those grown without its use (IAEA 2003). This may reflect that the fertilizer
doses used in soil were too low to be a radiological hazard. Other NORM byproducts, such as phosphogypsum or fly ash from coal-fired power plants, can be
also used as soil amendments (Papastefanou et al. 2006; Basu et al. 2009; Enamorado
et al. 2014). Plants can also grow on mine tailings either from uranium or other
metal mines. Uranium and other naturally occurring radionuclide concentrations in
plant are usually enhanced compared to control sites outside the affected areas, and
these differences can be applied for assessing the potential radiological hazard
(Wichterey and Sawallisch 2002; Carvalho et al. 2009; Pourcelot et al. 2011).
2 Transfer Factors
The transfer processes from soil to plant can be modelled in different ways, in order
to be properly quantified. The most usual approximation is the so-called transfer
factors or concentration ratios, which are defined as the ratio between the radionuclide concentration in plant and in soil (Eq. 1):
Table 1 Range of uranium concentration reported in several NORM industries
Fertilizer industry
Product
U range (Bq kg
−1 )
References
Phosphate rocks
10–13,745
Guillén et al. (2014)
Phosphogypsum
<2–650
Guillén et al. (2014)
Fertilizer
62–7024
Guillén et al. (2014)
Scale
0.62–3510
IAEA (2003)
Mining industry
Product
U range (Bq kg
−1 )
References
Coal
8.5–600
IAEA (2003); Xhixha et al. (2013)
Gold mine tailings
87.2–2668.9
Kamunda et al. (2016)
Tin mine tailing
1710–16,600
Ibeanu (2003); Ademola (2008)
Uranium mining
Product
U range
References
Uranium mine tailing
400–41598 Bq kg
−1
Černe et al. (2010);
Carvalho et al. (2006, 2007)
Drainage water
0.244–35.7 Bq L
−1
Carvalho et al. (2011)
J. Guillén and F. M. Gómez-Polo